


The love I need to see me through

by SecondStarOnTheLeft



Category: 16th Century CE RPF, The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecondStarOnTheLeft/pseuds/SecondStarOnTheLeft
Summary: Four Tudor children and their family.





	The love I need to see me through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PanBoleyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanBoleyn/gifts).



> For Kate - happy birthday!!

“Tell me, little sister,” Hal said, bouncing Bess up onto his hip. “Are you excited?”

It was a silly question - few things excited Bess as much as visiting her lady mother at court, and this was the most exciting visit of her little life yet. Twice before Bess had been promised the chance to be a big sister, and twice she’d been disappointed - not so now, though. The King had given the Queen a third and final chance, and it was a chance which had paid off richly.

“I want to see the baby,” Bess said, “but I hope he isn’t noisy. I don’t think I shall like him if he isn’t as sensible as you and Maria.”

Maria would be at court as well, of course, finally halfway reconciled with Bess’ mother in the wake of her own mother’s death, with Harry Howard shadowing her every step. Hal would find Harry’s fascination with Maria much, much funnier if his own Mae hadn’t made him doubt her brother’s intentions - a double match for the house of Howard with the royal bastards would be a fine thing indeed, and there was enough Papist sentiment remaining in the North that Mae had been dubious about her lord father’s loyalty in the absence of a prince in the royal cradle. 

No longer a problem, of course - little half-Boleyn Edward had stabilized the Queen’s reign. Even Maria couldn’t deny that it was a true sign of God’s favour.

“I don’t know if he’ll be as sensible as Maria,” Hal said. “I don’t think I know anyone as sensible as Maria. But Ned might grow to be as sensible as me, if we’re lucky.”

Bess’ dark eyes were sharp and shrewd beyond her tender years. She turned them on him with deepest suspicion, scowling prettily under her little hood.

“But Hal,” she said, “Mae always says that you aren’t sensible at all.”

 

* * *

Mary rocked carefully with Ned in her arms, cooing quietly and always, always aware of her stepmother’s eyes on her. 

“He’s such a fine child,” she said, daring to raise her eyes to meet the lady’s. Bess had those same black-dark eyes, and Mary had decided that she could tolerate the woman for the sake of the sister she adored and the brother she was sure she would love just as much. “I think he has your eyes, Majesty.”

“He certainly does not have your lord father’s eyes, my lady,” the lady said, edging closer and laying a tentative hand on Mary’s shoulder. “None of you do - not you or your brother of Richmond, and now neither Bess nor Ned. A funny thing, I think.”

“Bess has his hair,” Mary said, unable to keep from smiling when Ned stretched in his swaddling. “And Hal has his nose and his chin, I think.”

She looked back up, worried that her familiarity was inappropriate, and was surprised to find the woman smiling.

“It’s good that all of you are close,” she said. “That you love one another so much. My family and I are close, too, and it is… It is a good thing.”

The Lady Anne smiled directly at Mary and pressed her fingers over Mary’s atop Ned’s round, warm little head. 

“It gives me such hope for all your futures, my lady,” she said, “And I’m sure that it is a great comfort to your father, too.”

They said nothing more after that. Mary did not move her hand from under her stepmother’s, and was surprised by how strong the lady’s fingers seemed, even while gentle.

“Perhaps soon it will be your own joy that we will be celebrating, Lady Mary,” the Lady Anne said. “I have heard whispers of interest from close quarters?”

Surrey had shown an enormous amount of interest, and had it not been for his swearing himself to her service in the chapel when she had gone to say her nightly prayers the day before Ned was born, Mary might have been as wary as Hal had warned her to be. But Harry, Earl of Surrey, had knelt before her with his rich brown eyes serious as she had never seen before, and he had offered her his sword and sworn loyalty to her and her alone.

He had sworn love, too, if she would accept it, and pressed a dainty ring of gold and sapphires into her hand. She wanted to wait and speak to Hal and his Mae before telling Harry yes or no. Who else would know better than Mae whether Harry was sincere or not? Mary could’ve sworn on Hal’s behalf, after all.

 

* * *

 

Bess hadn’t seen Maria in such a long time that she ran the whole length of the hallway to throw herself into her sister’s waiting arms.

“How tall you’ve grown!” Maria cried. “Oh, Bess, how lovely your gown is! I should hardly have known you, you’ve gotten so grown up!”

Bess preened a little, drawing back to curtsy and show off her fine blue skirts.

“Your hair is so lovely like this, Maria,” she offered in return. Maria’s hair was a softer red than Bess’ own, apparently more like her mama’s than their lord father’s, and her eyes were a pale, clear blue that Bess had been jealous of, when she was little. “May I brush it tonight before bed? Please say yes, Maria!”

“I can’t see how you can so no to such an entreaty, sister,” Hal said, leaning one hand on Bess’ shoulder for balance while he kissed Maria’s cheek. “Perhaps I might beg the evening meal, then? We might all dine _en famille,_ what say you to that, Bess?”

“Oh,  _ please!”  _ She said. “Do you think Mama would approve? I’m sure she would, Hal, I’m sure of it! Mae can come as well, and Harry-“

Maria’s face went pink when Bess said that, and Bess decided to pretend she hadn’t overheard Hal and Mae talking about Maria marrying Harry. Bess liked Harry almost as much as she like Mae, and thought that he might make a fine husband for Maria. He might make her smile, if nothing else.

“I think we ought to see to Ned first, Bess,” Maria said, flustered as she only got when she was embarrassed. “Come along, little sister, your lady mother is waiting for you - I was just with her and Ned, come along.”

 

* * *

 

Ned rises under the weight of their father’s crown, and is glad of his brother and sisters.

Only Bess is standing to the fore, with Mama - Maria and Hal are his father’s children, but not his mother’s, and bastards cannot occupy a place of such high honour.

But they have their Howards with them, Harry and Mae, and Bess’ Robin is standing with the Howards. Maria smiles when he looks to her, and Hal winks the same way he does to his own sons, to Charlie and Thom. Maria’s boys, John and Dickon, are standing among all the pages, taller than Charlie and Thom - taller than Ned himself, despite being three and four years younger than him. 

Mama and Maria walk arm in arm out of the abbey, their heads bowed close together, and Hal has Mae on one arm and Bess on the other. 

_ Nous sommes en famille.  _ Ned wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Because the nicknames made me confused, and I wrote the damn thing, here are the ahistorical notes:
> 
> Instead of ousting Anne asap after the second miscarriage, Henry reluctantly gave her a third chance (I think due to pressure from Cranmer, and a few pointed reminders from Cromwell that the rest of Europe was against Henry due to his marriage to Anne, so he'd better make the best of it). Miraculously, she became pregnant again, and gave birth to a son - Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VI of England.
> 
> Mary - Spanish Mary or Maria, depending on who you're talking to - sees Edward's birth as a sign from God that her father was correct to set aside her mother, and reluctantly begins to reconcile with Anne now - a feat made easier by her mother's death, which occurs at the same time here as in OTL. She comes to court earlier, a court overrun by Boleyns and Howards, and finds herself courted by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (Harry). Surrey was a childhood companion of Henry Fitzroy's, and since I tend to write Mary and Fitzroy as being close, she'd trust in his judgement of Surrey, which leaves us here.
> 
> Henry Fitzroy - Hal - survives to adulthood, and has children with his wife, Mary Howard, Surrey's sister (Mae). That's his main change.
> 
> Elizabeth here... Well, I know there's a reference to her Robin, but she's the only legitimate sister of the King. Maybe someday, we'll see where she ends up in this world, but it won't be as Lady Dudley, I don't think.
> 
> And as for Ned - he's a healthier version of his half-Seymor equivalent, and probably ends up married to a French or Spanish princess, depending on where Elizabeth ends up.


End file.
